January 2019 - Recruiting Thread

Discuss and share any Virginia Tech related recruiting topics from January 2019 [0] that don't warrant their own thread [1]. Please do some digging to share original content (e.g. embed the original tweet, not a link to another post/website with said tweet), add context / relevant information and respect the Community Guidelines.

[0] If someone would like to make this thread from month-to-month, let Joe know, he is apt to forget and pressed for time. Or simply copy the boilerplate and start a new thread.
[1] New offers, commitments, decommitments, etc... deserve their own thread. Please read the brief best-practice tips at the top of the recruiting forum.
[2] New Year New Me

He is playing on a sprained ankle as well to give some context. According to Rivals he has been good tracking ball and has good hands which were a few things people were concerned about because he didn't really play WR

Yea I saw Simmons over at 247 praised his hands and ball skills today. Nobody has questioned his athleticism but some people have wondered about his general receiving abilities so that was encouraging to hear.

I have been one of those people. Great to see something different here than on his highlight videos (which showed very little ball skills). This kid might be just what the offense needs to take the top off of the defenses we face. Hopefully he doesn't get the Caleb Farley treatment.

Lol, yeah, the secret to recruiting players in a generation that is increasingly scared of talking on the phone/making a phone call is calling them. Wonder if it might have more to do with that whole being Bama thing?

That's severely overplayed and these kids are often outgoing and social. Talking to them is way way more personal than texting. You have to call Nick Saban to tell him you don't wanna go to Alabama instead of just dropping a shitty letter written on your iPhone notes app that you post to twitter

Although transfers are always risky because it means they didn't start on their other teams, I certainly wouldn't mind getting this former Under Armour All-American on the field to help bridge the gap while other HS recruits get bigger, faster, and stronger

And at this point grad transfers are the only guys that make sense unless they are a 5 star talent because we need the bodies on the field next year without having to sit out. Hopefully we can add another talented Blackshear to the VT athletics program.

I have no idea how likely we are to land him, if so, and he is willing to work hard in the off-season, this transfer has potential to dramatically change the outcome of 2019 season. Please make it happen!

I am going to say this about Willis: this guy is going to be a 5 star by the time he goes to college. And Tech needs to have someone assigned full time to keeping him on board. And once other guys see him going to Tech they will follow. He is an incredible beast on the field.

Just decommited from Temple on Jan 5. Doesn't have an offer from us but I think we were looking at him, played HS football in Georgia and is looking like Iowa State is chasin him. If ISU wants him, I want him, their defense was legit this year if you got to watch them. Also, dudes neck just screams Dlinemen.

Not an insider, so no idea if we're recruiting him. Pretty sure we were looking at him after we lost Adarious Jones, but he never got an offer. I love his film though, I think he is exactly the kind of gap shooting DT that would thrive in our defense. He is on the smaller side and would take a year or two to contribute, so I'm not sure we should give another scholarship to a developmental HS DT, but I would have loved to have landed him earlier in the cycle, I think he has a higher upside in our D than Pollard.

Remember when VT had that new car smell after Fuente was hired? Me neither.

I continue to hope that someday Tech develops a killer edge in recruiting and that we stop moving the goal posts for which year is going to be the banner year for recruiting. We've been doing it since 2013.

I couldn't disagree more, and I think it's unfair to to frame the expectations as unrealistic. I think the majority of Tech fans aren't expecting top 10 classes.

Beamer's classes, with the benefit of peak-ACC success starting in 2006, average out to a class ranking of 25.2 based on 247 recruiting.

Fuente's first year, the year that you'd hope that "new car smell" would be most impactful, as it is for most programs, ranked the 42nd best per 247. Remember he was battling, and losing, recruits to Iowa State that year despite being hired well before signing day. Fuente's classes, including 2019, average a rating of 30.25 according to 247.

It's one set of data based on 247 rankings, sure, but I don't think you can argue that Fuente has been more successful. In fact, I don't think you can even point to him and his staff being an upgrade recruiting-wise to Beamer at this point. And Fuente, with three years of his classes under him, just put out the first losing season in over two decades.

As we speak, Tech is battling Akron and Kansas for a JUCO DT who could be a day one contributor the moment he steps on campus. Maybe it's a lot of things, but I'm really tired of excuses for why Tech isn't recruiting at its ceiling.

So, you're posting in a sub thread about a recruit who can't sign for another 11 months. You're saying Fuente should have had a better class than 42nd due to new car smell. And claiming he had plenty of time before signing day.

Yeah, I'm not with you. Securing a higher class would have required more than 2.5 months at the helm. Kids are getting tied in with programs many months to years in advance. Some do wait until the end to commit, but the relationships develop sooner.

Maybe, but it doesn't seem to be an issue for most new coaches at power 5 schools where football matters. Mack Brown hasn't been relevant in years, comes in and immediately has multiple blue chippers. Maybe it's because he has a ring, or maybe it's because he put in place a staff that will maximize recruiting potential.

And relationship development works OK for guys like Dax, sure, but how about Ford, or Josh Sweat, or Dashawn Hand? Ford is a perfect example that all the relationship building can fly out the window in a matter of weeks when it's met with a program that recruits it ass off, and a staff that isn't considered to be stale.

I agree with almost all of what you're saying. We are not recruiting at our ceiling (which I believe is currently 20ish). However, that average is misleading.

The 2016 class was a patch job of Beamer's last class that heavily brings down the average. Average recruit rating of 0.8485. The year before it was 0.8635.

2017 was the real "new car smell" year and we had the 26th ranked class with an average rating 0.8613. Not bad but could be better IMO. Still had some pretty solid star power with Hunter and stealing 2 recruits from PSU.

2018 we had the 24th ranked class with an average rating of 0.8746. Over half of this class has either already contributed as true freshmen, or is expected to as r-fr.

2019 we currently have the 29th ranked class with an average rating of 0.8706. The national ranking on this class is being held back simply b/c of numbers. The talent level is still trending up as seen with the avg. rating but this class has definitely been the most disappointing.

Beamer's classes, with the benefit of peak-ACC success starting in 2006, average out to a class ranking of 25.2 based on 247 recruiting.

Fuente's first year, the year that you'd hope that "new car smell" would be most impactful, as it is for most programs, ranked the 42nd best per 247. Remember he was battling, and losing, recruits to Iowa State that year despite being hired well before signing day. Fuente's classes, including 2019, average a rating of 30.25 according to 247.

I see things a little differently.

As VT hired Fuente on November 29th, 2015, I'd suggest that the class that signed in February, 2016 is a transitional one, and isn't a representative Fuente class. If I were going to assign it anywhere, I'd say it's mostly Beamer's class.

I'd also argue that Fuente's three classes are 2017 (26th), 2018 (24th), and the current class, which isn't finished yet.

Seems to me that those two complete classes average at about 25th. So even according to that small sample size, and the specific classes you mentioned for Beamer (and not counting the 2016 class either way), Fuente's classes don't seem sub par at all to me.

The thing the real issue here is the fans who want to judge Fuente on all too small a sample size, and who have unrealistic expectations that aren't really based on anything.

I've made this case elsewhere, but it takes a while to change a football program. The people who don't want to give it the time it takes are just doomed to writing angry posts and steaming about it, because there really is no shortcut.

You can certainly try and hire a salesman type, but they may not pan out, and they may not prove to be good coaches. Or you can hire a good football coach who fits the culture and who knows how to build a program. This is what VT did. The goal there is to incrementally improve recruiting, while improving the results on the field. Yes there might be setbacks, and it will take some time.

All those fans who are looking for a panacea, I'm sorry. I don't believe there is one. We were fortunate to get Fuente, who has a LOT going for him. Would you prefer Mack Brown, Mike Locksley, or Bronco Mendenhall? I know I wouldn't.

I'd fancy a guess that the "new car smell" bump is much more substantial when the incoming coach/staff has strong, pre-existing ties to the fertile recruiting grounds most strongly associated with the school. Mike London at UVA (757 connections, including Thoroughbreds and Norfolk Christian), Mike Locksley (local to MD with strong connections to local schools), and Mack Brown (former UNC coach so he knows NC well) would be potential examples. Fuente had no ties to the area prior to being hired so it was going to take time to gain familiarity and build relationships. As a result we had a situation where he was hanging on to commits rather than getting a recruiting bump.

Perhaps the need to start from square one in that regard is another factor that should be considered if you are tempted to impose a strict timeline on Fuente's progress and achievements at VT.

Normally that would be true. However, Bud was actually viewed as a very poor recruiter toward the end of the Beamer era. The story was that things had gotten stale but Bud was reinvigorated on the recruiting trail after Fuente was hired.

The difference is one is a tinder box of potential and the other is only hanging on because of good coaching. If FSU suddenly had a good coach and scheme, their talent could carry them to a title. It's so much easier to replace a coach than it is to systematically build up your programs reputation and attract 4 years of top talent.

We're coming off a 6 win season, we can't expect to get everyone, he probably just wanted to stay at home, it takes several years to build relationships, we didn't want him anyway if he's willing to go to a non football school, recruiting doesn't matter because look at USC, 2021 is the year.

Look at the targets we're pursuing. IMO we're aiming higher and rightfully so than we ever did in Fuente's era (I have no actual evidence to back this up). We're going to lose some of these guys. Also if you think we didn't lose targets during the Beamer era you're crazy. Also its a year before signing day for that class have a lot of time for change.

This is why Fuente needs to get off his high horse and make changes to his staff. Keeping people on staff that shouldn't be there is destroying our recruiting. There's no wow factor to our staff at all. I'd argue that after this past season, even Bud has lost his "wow factor" on the recruiting trail (outside of Dax). We really need to bring in someone or someone's that can really relate to this young, easily influenced recruits, someone who has swagger, has been there before and has nfl experience. Who cares if they haven't coached before? Dhall for example would bring instant swag and credibility in these young kids eyes, he's played for Bud Foster so hes well familiar with his scheme. It's too natural a fit and in the arms race we are in, we don't have the resources of the blue bloods, so why not bring in someone who may even give us a hometown discount. We can't continue to lose recruits that we should get. This is a disturbing trend (not just Sinclair - of course it's still a long ways away), but the fact that we can never close some of these guys is absolutely a shame. One or two of these guys each year start to add up, especially is noticeable in our depth issues currently. Not saying that we should be able to close everyone, but it seems like we always have a bunch of guys in our grasp, and can't close the deal on them. We need to buck the trend and start closing - if we need to make changes fuente needs to make the tough decisions and do it.

The more I think about it the more I become concerned that fuente is an engineer and a manager, but not a sales guy nor does he have a sales Team. I don't think he needs to change overnight to be successful, but he needs to recognize what he is and isn't and surround himself with people that lift him and his organization up.

Sales, which is really alumni outreach and recruiting, could measurably use some work.

Why are you putting that in quotes? That staff has made big time waves so far. Since Mack's hire (a little over a month ago) UNC has done the following on the trail:

-flipped a high 3* WR from PSU
-flipped a 4* OT from NC State
-secured a commitment from a 4* receiver that had named Tennessee his leader within the last week
-flipped the nation's #3 QB from FSU
-stolen CRS from VT

In Fedora's first true class he brought in 5 four star players including three players in top 200.

Mack with this all star "coaching" staff (how good are they at coaching versus recruiting?) has two four stars and 1 player in top 200. So yes while their recruiting will be a thorn and will be a minor uptick over Fedora they aren't all star level.

Again, no one is making the argument that Mack Brown is going to transform UNC into a Football juggernaut, but that he and his staff of "coaches" are going to pose a significant challenge to us in Recruiting.

His staff also is full of "recruiters" who almost all have significantly better recruiting resumes than most everyone on our Staff. That is a problem.

Fuente seems poised to make no significant changes to his Staff and I think many here are (rightly) concerned that our Recruiting (which has been Average at best) will suffer from that. Facing increasing pressure from both UNC and UMD; adding somebody with stronger Recruiting credentials would seem incredibly logical.

Yes, this is just one player, but it is a highly-rated player at a position of absolute need who was absolutely a major target of ours. No, the sky isn't falling, but this certainly isn't a good thing, no matter how many excuses we'd like to make.

You're talking like their staff has already failed though, which is the opposite of what they've done. We're pointing to the only actual evidence of their success or failures, and for some reason you're acting like they can't coach.

This group mainly has a reputation as a group of recruiters, but there are some damn good coaches in there as well. Bateman was a Bryles finalist this year, Longo had top 20 offenses both of his years at Ole Miss, Brewster had both a head coaching stint and some time in the NFL. They have some solid guys on staff.

They flipped a bunch of guys that they likely had no prior relationship with when most of that time was during a dead period (heck, we're literally in one now). I mean, come on, that's not recruiting acumen or anything impressive, it's massive, blatant cheating. Mack is doing nothing more than setting UNC up to be the next Ole Miss.

There couldn't be less of a basis for this comment. Let's run down the list of those recruts above:

-Emery Simmons: was committed to UNC before PSU. Flipped back to UNC on his official visit on 12/8. Prior relationship? Check. Commitment during contact period? Check.

Triston Miller: officially visited UNC in June. Decommitted from NC State on 12/10 and silently committed to UNC on same day. Signed with UNC on NSD. Prior relationship? Check. Commitment during contact period? Check.

Sam Howell: Had been flirting with UNC for months. Unofficial visitor twice during the summer and official visitor in November, prior to Brown being hired. Prior relationship? Check. Commitment during contact period? Check.

Roseman-Sinclair: from Charlotte. Visited UNC multiple times and had maintained that UNC was #2 behind VT for a good amount of time. Prior relationship? Check. Commitment during contact period? No check.

Additionally, the dead period simply restricts recruits and coaches from meeting face-to-face, with all other communication being permitted. From the NCAA website:

"While the term "dead period" makes it seem like all recruiting stops during this time, that's actually not the case. Athletes and coaches are still allowed to communicate via phone, email, social media and other digital communication channels."

Where do you think the majority of recruiting happens? In-person or through text, Twitter, phone calls, etc.?

This cycle we had Barno, Murray, Ferguson, and Hanson all commit during dead periods. Were we cheating too?

Please, show me where UNC massively and blatantly cheated. You're basically acting like the little kid that loses a board game and automatically calls the winner a cheater.

As much as a lot of people on here think it's all about money in college football, people that are good salesman make a huge huge difference as well.

They're not mutually exclusive though. CRS could have liked UNC but not been interested in playing for Fedora AND Fuente could have done a better job closing on him. Fact of the matter is that we were the "leader" for months but didn't close. UNC changes staffs and sold the new staff's vision well enough to land him. What did they do in the last month that we couldn't have been doing for the past six? That is where some very serious questions need to be asked of our recruiting.

You're basically acting like the little kid that loses a board game and automatically calls the winner a cheater.

Sheesh, you get so defensive man. I'm not acting like that at all, not even a little bit. I'm not even upset over this, I don't follow recruiting very closely this far out and I think it's silly to get up in arms a year before signing day.

But for the record, I meant prior relationship with Mack, not UNC. I'm assuming Brown wasn't recruiting anyone until he got the job. If we are operating under the assumption that the recruiting wins are because of the new staff, then we are operating under the assumption that recruits are committing to coaches they have very little familiarity with.

I'll admit I wasn't aware of the full rules of contact during the dead period, but there is the reality that because of the dead period, the UNC coaching staff has barely even met most of these kids. We are expected to believe they have such a phenomenal pitch and salesmanship that they can convince a kid to commit to a coach they just met, when they have a full year to make a decision. These coaches are so unbelievably talented in selling themselves that recruits will spurn their stated leaders or prior commitments (some to proven top-level recruiters, btw) , decisions made over the course of years, in a few short weeks on the basis of a few text messages? It just doesn't add up at all. And I'm not even all that upset over it, this is the reality of how this sport works now, but I'll still call a spade a spade when I see one.

Eh, i see where you're coming from, but i'm not bitter about it. And while it's not proof, it is looking at the facts, acknowledging how recruiting works, and comparing it to other too good to be true situations. You really don't see situations like this very often. We're talking about a historically only decent recruiting program (UNC is typically in the 20's and 30's) that is not a primarily football school, flipping talent from top-level schools with elite recruiting staffs (obviously not including us here). All with a 70 year old coach who hasn't competed at a top level in nearly a decade, and a team that won 5 games in two years.

Maybe one or two flips this quickly would be reasonable, but this many this soon is not typical, particularly for a school of UNC's stature. We're not going to know for sure until years down the line, but the evidence pretty closely points to something fishy.

The only reason we are discussing this so much is because making it solely about salesmanship supports a narrative that people here support and that we've rehashed endlessly. Yes, some coaches are better recruiters because they are better salesmen, and we greatly can improve in that capacity, but college football recruiting is also sketchy as hell and fundamentally crooked. It's ok to acknowledge that when you see results that don't add up.

Mike London made waves in recruiting too but it never produced on the field. Having Dre Bly as a coach is going to be huge for them recruiting, but we'll see how he does once they actually get to school. Plus they have to keep this guy signed for what probably should be another LONG season in Chapel Hill. But if you want to freak out, go for it.

Probably helps us a little that he's at Cox with Tayvion. But don't worry Cox is like 5 mins from my house so I'll be there like a Wal-Mart greeter every morning until and when he decides. I'm not tweeting at him so that's cool, right?

I doubt it, but I I actually really like him in our offense. Brings back the Jerod Evans running threat, but an even more dangerous runner than Jerod. The word is that he has greatly progressed as a passer under Dan Enos as well. I don't think we are in the conversation for him as far as I know, but I think he would fit quite well.

If we only had QP in the QB room I would love for Hurts to play at VT for one year. But with Jackson, Willis, Hooker and QP, I think adding a one year player may be a bad look for a program with a coach known for developing QBs.

Disagree. I'm sure this has been said before but just because Jackson and Willis aren't world beaters doesn't mean Fu is not a capable QB coach and cannot develop a quarterback. Dalton and Lynch had NFL measurables before Fu got ahold of them. Willis and Jackson do not. They are good, serviceable QB's but I don't think many of us believed they were on any NFL shortlists. Willis' numbers aren't bad and neither were JJ's. Statistically Willis was a damn good QB, but we've seen his and JJ's ceiling. The knock is that Fu can't develop a QB because JJ and Willis don't play like Hurts, Tua, or TL - I think that's shortsighted. Fu can only do so much with what he's got.

Exactly. We have all said that Willis missed reads and stared down his receivers. Those are both things that can be fixed, which means his ceiling is clearly higher. If he improves both of those by 30% even, he would have a big season.

He gets another off season to work with his receivers and build that trust and relationship. That is a big deal as well.

So I think Eugene Asante 3-Star LB out of Westfield HS in NOVA, who was named VA first team all state a few days ago I have a feeling is gone. We're still the favorite with Crystal balls but he's offered by Tennessee last week and is taking officials to TCU and UCLA next week. As a tech alum and WHS football alum, gonna be disappointing if we let this guy slip past us.

I have no inside information, but neither do you? Just "a feeling", and you went to the same high school? Mmmmaybe save the "poor us" stuff for when some actual signs of slippage show up.

He's not verbaled to us. An offer from Tennessee is not a reason to clutch pearls. He's visiting TCU? Cool. They offered him, and Dallas is a damn fun town. I'd take an official to UCLA in the dead of winter - even if I had no intention of signing. (Which he shouldn't. That program is a flaming pile of trash right now)

I'm not throwing shade here. And I'm not guaranteeing that he ends up a Hokie. But right now, he's just a late bloomer who's taking his visits.

We'll have plenty of time to gripe when he picks UNC. /ssssturmunddrang

A good friend of mine is a huge UCLA fan and has been saying Asante is gonna be a Bruin (he has no inside info) but he swears they're way better off than USCw right now...in that sense hes right but I dont think Asante heads to Westwood...I have no inside info either. Kind of funny we're recruiting against each other for a recruit from Sterling.

So: UCLA's main selling point - coming off a 3-9 campaign - is "we're better off than the Trojans"??? (pssst: They're not.) I don't really know what to say to that. 😬

I'm sure there are folks with more info on his status - my main point was just that it makes no sense to wring hands over a completely normal recruitment process. He's not committed to us, he gets his officials, so he's taking them. I would too.

It also bears noting that 98% of us - even those of us who follow 'crootin - had no idea this kid existed 3 months ago. He's a late bloomer, we offered him late and, as usual, that signaled to other programs he was a player to be taken seriously so more offers pour in. He's in the middle of a moment. He's got every right to enjoy it.

Agreed, it's not like we're selling a much better product at the moment. Also I think early playing time at linebacker to strong safety/whip (probably the only places on D were we have a decent 2 deep) is probably better at UCLA and the campus is beautiful and you're living in LA, some kids want that after living in a place that's not that. Chip Kelly is a proven winner at the college level, much more than Fuente and until now Oregon's recruiting was wayyyy down after he left. I'm not freaking out about his recruitment, I just get the hunch that he's not comin. This whole thing reminds me of Deng, the kid that went to OSU last year and a few others that were late bloomers and right after we offered got a million more offers and ultimately didn't go with us cuz we couldn't lock em down early. He's doin what's best for him and taking his officials. But in the Fuente recruiting era, I think it's rare that we've gotten a stud with a lot of P5 offers late in the process, usually those are guys that we've developed relationships in a while. The only one I can think is Dylan rivers. Payoute, Dax, Hunter, Tre Turner and our 4 star guys this year are guys we've been in their ear for a while. To me Fuente and company are not guys that I feel comfortable recruiting a kid (with a lot of big time offers) late and sealing the deal. Feel free to disagree and some on here may prefer it, but Fuente's style to me I think doesn't work to build excitement in the short term, I think his pitch works better as a longer play. Other schools are better at getting recruits to fall in love immediately.

Same thoughts have been running through my mind. Pretty clear that Coach Fuente and staff have an extremely good talent for identifying up and coming talent. The downside is that other teams appreciate that, and after an offer is made they jump on the bandwagon, and the bigger the bandwagon the less our chance of landing him. Combine that with lack of ability to close and we are becoming a free talent recruiting service for other teams.
I've been thinking Coach Fuente and staff really need to work on this. Of course, the very first step is having a really good season to convince everyone last year was an outlier. Then Coach Fuente needs to lose that stiff and aloof image (couldn't help thinking about that while I watched Dabo's happy po' boy in the big leagues bit last Monday), and my other suggestion is to jump on Buzz's OKG spiel, something that could tie in with certain players who departed last season (much like Buzz helped a lot of players depart).

a few others that were late bloomers and right after we offered got a million more offers and ultimately didn't go with us cuz we couldn't lock em down early

Uh... wasn't this exactly the situation with Payoute? I see you mentioned him as an example of someone we were in on for a long time but I don't believe that was the narrative at all. He had a meteoric rise in ranking after camp, VT offered him before other P5 schools, got a commitment, and signed him. So I actually think he would be counter to your argument. Also we signed Barno over Nebraska and Murray over Texas Tech in a short recruiting time frame as well. Kaleb Smith was supposedly going to be a preferred walk on at VT over a scholarship at Wake last year (though I heard mixed things about him being on scholarship).

So while I wouldn't disagree that VT typically struggles when the blue bloods get involved, I do think fans tend to hang on to perceived failures and minimize any successes.

1) Barno and Murray aren't the type of player I'm talking about, a couple P5 offers doesn't a stud make. Maybe these will be steals but they're JUCOS and have a different perspective and mentality than HS players with several big offers coming in a short span.
2) Payoute actually works perfect for my example. He was a long play. He wouldn't have been in the All American game if he was that late of a bloomer and off the radar.

I'm saying someone that within 2-3 months of us offering will be signing a letter of intent like Asante or someone whom we never have really talked to that falls in love right away with our program and within a short span of time will be signing a letter of intent. It's pretty simple Fuente's pitch doesn't infatuate big recruits that we haven't talked to for months or years to flip or commit quick, like say Urban, Franklin or even what we've seen with Mack Brown recently. It just is what it is, we've seen it from the sample. We've also seen the other side where a bunch of great players are 100% Hokie for months and then within a visit or couple weeks they commit to someone else cuz they fell in love with that program. I really can't recall that happening for us beside guys that had mostly FCS or weak P5 offers.

Guy that has been committed since June before the start of his junior season isn't that much of a late bloomer. He might have been unknown at the time but he's been a 4 -star rated kid for several months now, that means his jr tape and camp, followed by sr tape have him his initial and sustained 4 star status and all American selection.

But he's a kid that after he committed we cultivated that relationship since his camp and was months away from signing a LOI. And his current offer list is more a result of tellin ppl he's not interested at anyone else for months.
Guys like Asante or Javontae Jean-Baptiste whom we offered in December and were only a few months having to sign a LOI is the type of player I'm referring to.

Probably a dumb question, but do programs grade players differently based on how their projected scheme fit? Or does a program just try to grab as much talent as possible and figure it out later, given that most recruits will need one or two years to develop?

Miami recently added Martell's good friend and former teammate at Bishop Gorman High School Bubba Bolden, and it will be a top contender to land him. So is West Virginia, as new Mountaineers coach Neal Brown could be in the market for a dynamic quarterback.

Other schools of interest include UCLA, USC and Oklahoma. At this point, though, the Sooners have not reached yet out according to Lettermen Row sources.

Correct, he has not decided if he is transferring. He just entered his name so he could communicate with other coaches. Also remember the coach who recruited him just retired. Sub note, tOSU lost a QB recuit Dean Mathis because OSU did not tell Kathis they were pursuing Fields

But the player hasn't done anything other than test the waters. If Bud took a phone call about the HC position at a P5 school would you be okay with his entire contract becoming null and void immediately? I'm guessing no, yet it's okay to punish a 20-year-old kid for the same thing?

If the player is choosing to open up the door to see if there's something better out there for them, why can't the school consider using that scholarship on someone better for them? I'm not saying every player who puts their name on the transfer list should have their scholarship pulled, but there are situations where I wouldn't have a problem with a program doing making that move.

I suppose if a player quit the team you'd be in favor of them getting to keep their scholarship?

I'd be disappointed if Bud was fired for interviewing for other jobs, but that's only because I think Bud is a value-add for our program. If Tyrone Nix got fired for contacting other teams about jobs, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest. It all depends on the individual and the situation.

Most schools are constantly looking to upgrade their rosters. If they're able to explore transfer options to recruit over a player and improve their situations, shouldn't players have the same right?

For a current example, Austin Kendall sat behind Baker Mayfield in 2016 and 2017 and Kyler Murray this past season (two transfers btw). He was widely viewed as the obvious starter this year, but OU is now heavily pursuing Jalen Hurts. Why would Kendall wait until Hurts makes his decision and all of the school's looking to add transfer QB's fill up their spots, when he can test the waters now and keep his options here in the event that Hurts does go there?

I think it's BS that colleges are allowed to pull scholarships for entering the portal. They basically have all the leverage in these situations. It could essentially end a player's career if he entertains his options, but players have zero leverage on the university for doing the same to him and recruting transfers to take his spot.

Louisville is one of those interesting places. Access to an enormous amount of resources and a broad alumni base. It isn't inconceivable that they could have a Clemson like rise with the right head coach.

I for one am not interested in another national power in our region of recruiting.

3 PSU players are transferring, their coaches must have lost the locker room.

Theee more Penn State players have entered the transfer portal: Defensive backs Zachariah Mcphearson & Lamont Wade as well as WR Brandon Polk who started 7 games in 2018.— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) January 13, 2019

It's crazy. All these highly ranked recruits love getting told they'll definitely be the guy and talking about going to the same school to dominate, only to realize after the fact there isn't enough playing time for everyone and decide to leave...

So in the last 2 years, Bama has said goodbye to 12 underclassmen entering the draft and 8 assistant coaches (not including the support staff that's departed). https://t.co/9v2FeAIX5Z— I survived the transfer portal 🚪💨💥 (@ADavidHaleJoint) January 14, 2019

Not as bad as Bama and all those kids leaving. Saban just can't recruit his own kids to stay.

Do you think Ford and Bucky deciding to leave early had anything to do with Jerod's decision, or vice-versa? I still can't help but think how much differently we may be viewing the past three years and the progress of the program if they had all returned in 2017. I honestly think we would have had a very special season in 2017, which may have impacted recruiting and overall program perception.

IMO Bucky was gone no matter what, and Jerod left because Ford left and he didn't want to go into his final season with a group of unproven receivers. The sad part is, if Ford has stayed, then we probably would've landed D.J. Matthews as well.

I don't know that part of it. Maybe I guess. Jerod had a quality about him that was borderline cocky to very cocky that in many cases made him good on the field. Think his energy and confidence running in the red zone vs Clemson - he made some runs/plays very few college qb's can make.

However, that same quality was in over abundance and he believed he could overcome anything including not being highly rated going into the draft process - or better put - you need another year to improve/refine your passing skills as they are not NFL ready. That quality lead to a lack of objectivity and not staying.

That process can be very humbling. Sometimes kids need to have someone there to reel them in when they don't take good advice. I truly hope things work out great for him as he was a special player.

Yep it's pretty common practice at many places, and I've heard the same about our staff (I'm guessing you have confirmed intel). It's hard to say you're advising the best interest of the player if you tell a 1st-2nd rounder to stay.

He is only 5'9, but he was also a highly lauded talent. I think he could be a GREAT nickelwhip for us. Additionally, if he has great range and can tackle I wouldn't be opposed to him playing FS either.

He's definitely well above average in both of those, but his height is just too much to overcome. No inside intel other than what is on Maryland's boards, but it seems like Locksley told him he doesn't have a spot in college park either.

Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

I'm hoping we can reel him in but we've missed on a few of these late risers in the past. JJB and K'Von Wallace come to mind. THAT SAID, every recruit is a different person and new opportunity for optimism.

That's interesting to hear. He hasn't exactly been an all-world safety for Clemson, in fact he was much maligned along with all their other safeties throughout the season, but he is still a starter for Clemson. Hard to imagine he wouldn't be starting for us as well.

Should have went all in for Dortch and Wallace that year IMO. With all the talent that has come through and will be coming through Highland Springs, should have been a no brainer. Both guys were the real deal, how the coaches couldn't see it was beyond me. Dortch has been all conference twice and was named to some coaches all america teams. Anybody who watched the Title game saw how much Wallace would have helped our secondary this year. Dortch declared for Draft as True Junior. He's top 10 in Wake History in Catches, Yards and TDs in 3 seasons. Still SMH about our lack of connection to HSHS.

There's no glory in practice and lifting but without practice and lifting, there will be no glory!

Hence why I don't understand it. Seems like we did great getting guys from Loren when he was at Stonewall Jackson-Manassas but since he's gone to Highland Springs, we haven't done well. Macho, Cris Hill and the Hopkins brothers are the last guys we've gotten from there? Missed on WR Felton(Mich St), Dortch (Wake), Wallace (Clem), Becton(Louisville) just in the last 5 years. We should be on these guys as freshman and sophomores at this school IMO.

There's no glory in practice and lifting but without practice and lifting, there will be no glory!

Wallace I definitely agree with, but no one wanted Dortch. All of his FBS offers were for greyshirt opportunities until Wake decided very late that they could take him as a regular signee. Can't fault the staff for that, he just wasn't a great prospect. You just have to give the kid credit for working hard and producing way above his rating.

Vice better get a Wyatt Teller mullet and carry the meat tenderizer around the whole time during the visit. Don't let Nester hold it, but just keep it nearby, the lure of the two should just about be enough to pull him in.

Whatever. It was one bad year.

Seasonal Brew means High ABV for football season and standard the rest of the year.

Do it! Do It! Watched the state title game via NFHS to see all the prospects between Manchester and Freedom. Clark was the best skill player on the field IMO. Pritchard is going to be fine as well, good looking center prospect. Moves well and has some nasty. For what it's worth, I thought Hakeem Beamon looked very good. He only played defense which kept him fresh as well. Brendan Clark, the QB going to ND is for real. He can spin it and his pre snap reads were on point though Freedom didn't disguise much. I was very impressed by the Manchester RB/OLB, small stocky guy whose likely too short to be FBS but a great football player. Freedom has a couple more young prospects in the trenches that are worth looking at. Fuga is going to be good for us but he was worn down playing both sides, appeared to have a nagging shoulder injury during the game.

There's no glory in practice and lifting but without practice and lifting, there will be no glory!

We've offered a '20 OL from Freedom and are talking with the '20 DL that played next to Fuga.

FWIW, I have spoken with several well connected Richmond folk, and none of them think Beamon will be successful at the next level. He tried to commit to VT about a year ago at junior day (same day that Tayvion and Riley Simonds committed and Tank tried to commit) but the coaches wouldn't accept it.

I hope they are right about Beamon bc the last thing Penn St. needs is a a dominant front 4 to go along with the rest of their team. I also hope we were wrong about Ellies bc he has been getting high praise recently and from what I've heard wanted to be a Hokie at one point too.

Don't tell me that! Ellies was my #2 DT target locally behind Adarious Jones. Loved his explosiveness and violence with which he tackles. Did appear to have high pad level at times but that's something that can be coached up. Motor, size and athleticism can't be coached and he appeared to have all those. Maybe LA or someone can share who passed on who between us and him.

There's no glory in practice and lifting but without practice and lifting, there will be no glory!

He was supposedly "interested" in us when when he was looking to commit somewhere over the summer and OSU wouldn't take him. I believe our interest was lukewarm at best as we had already landed Kendricks and Pollard and were really heating up for Dorlus.

In my opinion, even if we had accepted Ellies' commitment, he would have continued to look for something "bigger" and probably wouldn't have listed on the commit list for too long once PSU came calling. I think the coaches felt that vibe as well and was hesitant to go all in.

His success was in part due to him only playing defense while Freedom had 2-3 OL also playing/rotating in on defense. I'm in the middle on Beamon. He's got some skills but also some flaws. His high motor and hands impress me most. Doesn't have many moves, seems stiff at times as well. He'd be a good 3-4 4 technique IMO. Can hold point of attack. If Fuga didn't go both ways all game, he would have wreaked more havoc. He more than held his own being doubled most of the night at 0 tech. I thought Beamon looked good during the game but it's clear that Fuga is the better DT prospect and I'm glad we've got him. If he keeps his body in good shape, he should be in DT rotation as true freshman. He's got all the tools, just needs some tech work and body shaping.

There's no glory in practice and lifting but without practice and lifting, there will be no glory!

haha we had 630 lifts this am. they were here bright and early. they talked with him and the staff for a little bit. he threw some for them and they are getting ready to head to oakleaf to check in on the QB over there they recently offered walter simmons III class of 21. im sure they'll be visiting with Trinity today as well as they have class of 20 offers with DBs miles brooks and fred davis.

Yeah, on the surface I agree. I hate that it feels like a tease and I want the goods. But if you make posts here without 17 different cited sources, everyone flips out. It's like fans aren't allowed to speculate and everything has to be a verifiable dissertation. I'd probably be vague too if I were him.

I disagree, BAG and LA give little snippets like, "this weekend could be a good weekend" and it lets us know that there is chatter of a possible commitment but they don't always let on to who it may be. I think it's fine to say that something might happen without giving away sources or information that would leave your sources out to dry because they are in a handful of people who know that info and their bosses may come down on them.

"And guess what, you've wandered into our school of tuna and we now have a taste of lion." -Allen Gamble, The Other Guys
@Doooougie07

BAG and LA also are usually commenting within some context of recent visitors or offers. Usually, if you are paying attention, you have an idea of 2 or 3 people it could be that BAG or LA are referencing. Also, when they are giving information about recruits they never ask people to speculate who/what might be happening... "Thoughts?"

Speculating is "I wonder if there will be more changes to the staff and if Grimm heading to the NFL is a sign of some bigger changes down the road." This post was just garbage basically "maybe I know something, maybe I don't, what do you guys think?"

Mitchell is scheduled as the speaker for the Richmond Hokie Club recruiting night on Jan 24, though it's no guarantee that he won't leave after signing day (Gray did when he initially left).

I see that Lechtenberg is speaking at the one in Charlottesville, Wiggins is doing NOVA, Burden is doing Tidewater, and Wiles is doing Charlotte. Not sure about the other speakers. For the record, it is entirely too difficult to find information about Hokie Club events online.

Actually the Hokie Club website has a solid event listing so I take back some of what I said. I do wish they'd have listed all the events on social media as well though. The individual Hokie Clubs could do much better in getting this info out. One example is that the Lynchburg HC hasn't updated its site in several years. I'd think it would be possible to find a student from the local area willing to run some social media and update the site occasionally.

Anyway in addition to Cornelsen in Roanoke, Vance Vice is speaking in Lynchburg. So that leaves Foster, Shibest, and Nix as assistant coaches without speaking responsibilities.